This history illustrates a number of
themes encountered in Swaziland that faces developing
countries and their external partners in Africa and beyond.
Firstly, the history relates the experience of a small and
comparatively insular country in addressing complex
challenges deriving from rapid urbanization and, as a
result, the growing need to adapt governance systems and
structures. A second key issue is the challenge that small

This paper assesses the state of
research and examines priorities for future work in the area
of urbanization and growth. This is done by reviewing and
summarizing the findings of five scoping papers covering the
following topics: urban poverty, the political economy of
urban poverty, urban real estate and housing, urban
infrastructure finance, and external assistance for urban development.

Housing is one of the most important
sectors of the economy -- in developing countries as in
richer ones -- with large positive externalities in terms of
economic growth, public health and societal stability. It is
the primary form of asset accumulation for the poor -- often
representing more than 50 percent of the assets of
households. However, housing systems in developing countries
are dominated by badly designed, poorly targeted, and

Danang City is the capital and economic
hub of the central region of Vietnam. As in all of the major
urban centers of the country, Danang is currently
experiencing rapid urbanization fueled by consistent
economic growth and the resultant steady increase in
population, much through rural-urban migration. For this
reason, central and city government has been increasingly
concerned with the urban development and housing sectors.

In 1986 the World Bank prepared a
strategy for low-income housing in developing countries.
This work grew out of the Bank's efforts to support the
urban poor through an extensive housing assistance program
that was launched by Bank President McNamara's speech
on urban poverty. By that time, the Bank had provided more
than $4 billion of such assistance, and had undertaken an
extensive research effort to design support for that

After many decades of stagnation, Kenyan
economy started to grow from the early-2000s. Much of this
growth has been attributed to total factor productivity
improvements in Kenyan economy arising out of many factors.
A large share of this growth originated in urban areas, in
the service and manufacturing sectors. These gains also
paralleled reduction in poverty and higher enrolment in
primary education. Yet, it has been argued that Kenyan

At the request of the Government of
Egypt (GOE), the objective of this brief note is to provide
concise recommendations on next steps for the National
Housing Program (NHP). These recommendations and policy
analysis are an elaboration of the framework for housing
policy reform in urban areas in Egypt, a draft of which was
endorsed by the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban
Development (MHUUD) and the Ministry of Investment (MOI) in

The objective of this study, requested
by the Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development,
is to assist the government of Egypt in: formulating a
coherent national affordable housing strategy which puts in
place an effective institutional and regulatory framework
that creates the necessary conditions for an efficiently
functioning housing market, devises the incentive structure
needed to promote increased private sector participation in

Morocco is a middle-income country with
good water infrastructure that provides access to safe
drinking water and sanitation to the majority of the urban
population. In 2005, Morocco made it a priority to extend
service to poor peri-urban settlements, and encouraged
operators and local governments to reduce connection fees
for their inhabitants. These connection fees had been priced
at marginal cost, which represented a major obstacle for

This report is the primary output from
the climate change impact and adaptation study for the
Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) produced for the Bangkok
Metropolitan Administration (BMA) with financial support
provided by the World Bank. The report concerns climate
change, and provides an analysis of climate change impacts
and adaptation options for the BMR. In addition to the more
general matters on the physical setting and socioeconomics

The purpose of this guidance note is to
bridge precisely identify how to implement World Bank
resettlement policies in the context of infrastructure
projects affecting South Asian largest cities, with a focus
on the impacts on poor areas and slums. The guidance note is
intended as a tool to help decision makers in Government
agencies and in the Bank, particularly in respect of the
main aspects: 1) methods to assess and evaluate resettlement

This document builds upon several recent
studies and reports carried out in the 2006-2007 period. The
first note, entitled analysis of housing supply mechanisms
(World Bank), analyzes the situation of housing supply in
urban areas in Egypt, including the study of existing formal
and informal mechanisms for the delivery of urban housing,
the institutions responsible for supply and regulation, the
characteristics of the formal and informal stock, and the